Catching Up (+ a few Disneyland photos!)

March 6, 2018

Hey there, it’s been a while!

While I have intentionally been less on screen and more in person, I didn’t quite expect to go so long in-between writing. There’s so much I want to write about and share, but I guess it’s also been a while since I’ve shared about life in general, so let’s start there, shall we? 🙂

This one turned 3!

This one stole some of Santa’s cookie crumbs 🙂

These ones…well, they’re just adorable.

Christmas was amazing…the holidays with these girls just gets better and better. We took the girls to Disneyland at the end of November to kickoff Christmastime, and it is always so good for the soul. Some think our love of taking them to the parks is crazy (and that’s totally fine, you go ahead with those thoughts 😆 ,) but it’s a perfect place for vacations in the season of life we are in (aka: if my tiny Reese waddles freely, there is no fear of something poisonous biting her, or her rolling into a scenic gulch. Disneyland=super safe, which is the best.) We tried a different hotel (The Fairfield) versus our typical favorite, and while the proximity was awesome, the rooms were a bit too small for our double stroller, three kids, and pack n’ play, ha! We had so many laughs and moments of awe at the girls’ cuteness; I cried during the fireworks where “snow” fell and Reese and Hadley were enamored (Sadie, in her non-fomo glory was asleep through all of it,) and I ate so many delicious things (first time trying the “famous” corndog…I don’t even like corndogs, but they must’ve put something extra magical in the Disneyland ones because *my goodness.*) I already cannot wait until we get to go back, which in our household, Miss Sadie Kate gently reminds me daily, “Mama, I miss Deesneywand so much.”

A few favorite photos:
I’ve been intentionally taking things slower and simpler on the home-front. While I’m someone that loves going out with the girls daily, I’m also raising these ones to not need to be entertained all the time, so true music to my ears is hearing them pretend play together while I work on something in the house. Reese has even been joining in on the fun; the sweetest sight is watching her stare at her sisters in amazement at a “stuffed animal picnic party” they made (moments before she annihilates it, haha.) One of my biggest goals for them (I have a lot, but this is one of the major ones) is for them to genuinely love each other, and be lifelong friends. I love praising their kind actions towards each other, and I try my hardest to never plot them against one another (whether playfully or accidentally,) as it can so easily happen as siblings grow older.As far as me, I am trying to focus on being healthy again, both physically and mentally. This isn’t a number or a look, it’s just a feeling. If I’m being honest, after Reese was born until I consciously decided to focus on my all-around well-being (which was basically at the beginning of this year,) was one of the hardest years of my life, second to the transition of losing my father. It wasn’t Reese…gosh, she was such a sweet little baby, but the fact that I was being woken up about every three hours for at least an hour at a time for a year was intense. I chose to have a baby, of course knowing how much they require, but she was just my first with a bit of a temporary health problem (if you don’t remember, her esophageal muscle wasn’t fused until she turned one, so she spit up about 75% of her food every time she ate…aka: she was always hungry and needing to nurse) and I was completely blindsided by how awful sleep deprivation could be. Let’s add to nurturing growing and thriving toddlers to the mix and I felt like who I was…was basically just scraps of myself. I used to be joyfully active, read books, and create things…and I am determined to do that again. Reese began sleeping perfectly when she turned one (she is now the best sleeper in our home, imagine that 😆 ,) but she passed the bad sleeping torch to Sadie (I’m saving that for another post, as that has been pretty much completely eradicated [thank goodness!] and some mama’s wanted me to share a post on what we did to get her sleeping through the night again.) 2018 has been the perfect opportunity to gradually bring happy and healthy habits back into my life (I’m a firm believer in moderation, as it’s a lifestyle and not some temporary stint being active and taking care of my body,) and I have a few books and projects I’m excited to take on (one being a family yearbook!) A few quick changes I’ve also made to feel better: I cut off 7 or so inches of my hair (if you ever need a refresh, a new hairstyle always helps,) I have mostly given myself a bedtime and stuck to it, and I look at/care about my phone way less (which has made me a little easier to get a hold of, but if you love me, you understand. 🙂 )

Something I don’t share about as often is my marriage, not because I don’t have much to say, but because it is without a doubt the best gift I’ve been given, and the easiest thing in my life. We still definitely have healthy fights…we are two extremely opinionated people living under one roof with tiny (adorable) people that take a lot out of us, but I love learning from him almost as much as I love (playfully) teasing him. My other goal for this year is for him and I to get to have some type of getaway without our daughters…even if it’s just for 24 hours…we will take whatever we can get (it’s been since our babymoon in 2016 for goodness sake! :lol:)

Again, I have so much I could say or share, but I feel like I’m at a good stopping point right about now and will try to be better about writing more than every three months, ha! In the meantime, I hope your 2018 has been off to a good start, and if not…what I always tell my girls, “Tomorrow is a brand new day!” 😉

Reese was 15 months when we went, and hasn’t changed too much in that time. 🙂 Honestly, she’s pretty mobile but still loves being worn, so anytime we had lines or if one of my kids needed the stroller, she would just go in the Lillebaby. In the evenings, either Aaron or I would wear her while she slept in the carrier for her bedtime. Bringing your own snacks is the best (I LOVE that they allow outside food,) so I typically made her a pb&j and cut it up and served it on the snack tray of the stroller, also had some good pouches handy! If you need more details as far as rides or anything, shoot me a message or an email! 🙂